|
|
|
|
|
| Facts: |
| Whenever a musical style comes and goes, after a set number of years, it returns as nostalgia for a while and becomes popular again with people who were young at the time of the song and suddenly realize they're middle-aged and are wondering what the hell happened. This certainly now applies to New Wave and the popularity of this tune on the site is a prime example of this sort of thing going on. (Stavro Arrgolus) |
| Strangely, this is one of the most popular non-demented songs on our 'guests online' page as this is a site dedicated to novelty music. Hardly a day goes by without a few views of it. (Stavro Arrgolus) |
| In Peter Schilling's sequel to Bowie's "Space Oddity" Tom is presumed dead by people on earth, but in reality he has survived. It is revealed that Major Tom never intended to return to Earth, as he was actually an alien disguised as an Earthling astronaut. "Coming Home" means returning to space, not to Earth. In this song, the word "light" in "now the Light commands" is often heard or transcribed as "life", but the liner notes of the Error In The System LP (and the original German), though, confirm the word "light".
The German version differs from the English rendition in that it is implied that rather than being caught in an accident, Major Tom ends his life willingly due to information available to him, but not to Mission Control. wikipedia...slightly edited (Stavro Arrgolus) |
| Web pages about this song: |
|
| Song Lyrics: |
Standing there alone, the ship is waiting.
All systems are go. Are you sure?
Control is not convinced, but the computer
has the evidence. No need to abort
The countdown starts.
Watching in a trance, the crew is certain
Nothing left to chance. All is working.
Trying to relax, up in the capsule.
"Send me up a drink," jokes Major Tom.
The count goes on.
4...3...2...1
Earth below us, drifting falling,
Floating weightless, calling, calling home...
Second stage is cut, we're now in orbit.
Stabilizers up, running perfect.
Starting to collect, requested data.
What will it affect, when all is done,
thinks Major Tom?
Back at ground control, there is a problem.
Go to rockets full, not responding
"Hello Major Tom, are you receiving?
Turn the thrusters on, we're standing by"
There's no reply.
4...3...2...1
Earth below us, drifting falling,
Floating weightless, calling, calling home...
Across the stratosphere, a final message.
"Give my wife my love," then nothing more.
Far beneath the ship, the world is mourning.
They don't realize he's alive.
No one understands, but Major Tom sees.
"Now the light commands
This is my home. I'm coming home"
Earth below us, drifting falling,
Floating weightless, coming home
Earth below us, drifting falling,
Floating weightless, coming home
Earth below us, drifting falling,
Floating weightless, coming home
Earth below us, drifting falling,
Floating weightless, coming, coming home
Home... (cosumel) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current Rating
9.8
(3 votes)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
fiogf49gjkf0d I think that by some strange quirk of fate, all humans are "alien" to the rest of life on Earth, and that "seeking the light" (knowledge and awareness) is the only real "home" we can ever hope to have. Out into other eco-niches, and eventually: out into space ... it is all the same. Paraphrasing Pogo Opossum, "We have met the 'aliens', and they are 'us'."
. ko ze'u jmive gi'e snada .
|
|
fiogf49gjkf0d You're very welcome.
And for my next magical trick, I'll contemplate the meanings of Nena's 'Leuchtturm'. Was it really about U-boats? Hmm....
As of this moment, this song remains the #1 song page on the site. The search bots must be finding lots of keywords in it or something. I noticed the popularity of this page a couple of years ago. I was rather fond of this song in 1983-4 myself. It was one of the last great pop tunes before hair metal and rap sent it all to hell. It was around that time that the RIAA compartmentalized everything into categories and pop music as we knew it ceased to exist. But that's another thread.
|
|
|
fiogf49gjkf0d Thank you for your reply Stavro Arrgolus!
You are 100% right... sometimes some things don't mean anything!!
and also "yeah~right~" to the fact that schilling never heard bowie's space oddity...lol but it is good to know that schilling song is not related to drugged inspired david bowie, though i listen to his song just for fun.
"it's a sign that it's at that point that he vanishes from corporeal existence and 'returns home' in one form or another."
that is beautifully worded and it makes a lot of sense:-)
I love that.
I translated German version getting a help of "google translator" since my german is very bad though i lived there for 2 years...lol
well, first i was surprised the song doesn't even mention anything about "coming home". no calling home, nothing about home.
Secondly, i felt bit more of where he stands clearer than english version. I can imagine him trying so long to make his dream come true but in the end he realized what's most important thing... his family...his wife.
but i did not get the impression of Major Tom being Alien...?
I have a friend in germany so I'm gonna ask her opinion next time.
Thank you for sharing your opinion.
It mean so much to me!!
Ciao
|
|
|
fiogf49gjkf0d George Carlin once said, "Some people think everything has to mean something- well, some things don't mean anything."
Schilling claimed never to have heard the original 'Space Oddity' before writing this song. ...yeah, right. Germans had a thing for Bowie at that time after he had just spent all that time in Berlin with Brian Eno and Iggy Pop making the 'Berlin Trilogy' albums- "Low","Heroes" and "The Lodger". I'm sure this is far from the first homage to the Man Who Fell To Earth made in Germany.
All that I've heard and read suggests that the original German version- www.madmusic.com/song_details.aspx?SongID=40092 takes the plot in a slightly different direction and that Major Tom is an alien who returns to space. "Now the light commands" can have any number of interpretations, but at the point all the echo is added to the line, "I'm coming home", to me, it's a sign that it's at that point that he vanishes from corporeal existence and 'returns home' in one form or another.
It's a mistake to think Europeans aren't aware of America's social paranoias and pet peeves. Often, songs of this era were watered down with gentler lyrics so they could be played on U.S. radio and anything even remotely controversial was removed.
Now, Bowie... that's something else entirely. The original song that 'Ashes to Ashes' and 'Major Tom (Coming Home)' were sequels to was written with Ziggy Stardust, astronauts and aliens in mind. Bowie's film (they weren't called 'videos' in those days) of 'Space Oddity' showed him playing a acoustic guitar dressed in an early Ziggy Stardust ensemble. It's easy to make the leap of believing both Ziggy and Tom were aliens. Reality = not aliens, but guys on "really hard drugs" having really far out trips.
The sensible money suggests you listen to all 3 songs and draw your own conclusions. And remember- 'some things don't mean anything.'
|
|
|
fiogf49gjkf0d Is Major tom character really an alien??? What is this information based on? I was always wondering what "light commands" mean.... I assumed that "light" as the heaven or afterlife based on people supposedly see light when they die... "This is my home" is either pointing at "earth" or heaven, and "I'm coming home" means he is reincarnating or heaven as home...at least that's what i thought! I hope major tom is not an alien. All the greatness of this song kinda gets ruined :-(
|
|
Enter a New Message
|
Message:
|
|
|
|
Song samples are provided for information purposes only and are intended
to enable the users to sample the music (as they are in very low quality) before
they take the decision of purchasing the music. This right is expressly permitted
under "Fair Use" as nonprofit educational purposes only. The
ownership of the copyright of the songs rests with the respective owners.
|
|
|
|